Etheral
by TheFutureIsAGeek
Summary: Lucas's view on loving Riley and Maya, with a little child abuse and fame thrown in. Warning: Abuse and self-harm.


New York. It's so big that it feels so lonely. I'm on the subway to the Big Apple with my parents waiting at the station for me.

My thoughts are interrupted by a blond angelic girl who instantly turns me on. "Hi, I'm Maya. You're really cute. We should hang out sometime." I can't do anything but stare at this fairy. "You make me happy. You don't pay enough attention to me. This isn't working out. It's you not me. We can still be friends. Not really." Wow. I just dated a divine being for 30 seconds straight. I will never find anyone as perfect as her.

As I think that, a brunette comes flying toward me, just as perfect as the blond. At that moment I realize I need the both of them in my life. The brunette lands in my lap, smiling sweetly and also somehow looking like she was always meant to end up in my lap. And she was. After a few precious minutes, she stands up and walks over to the other girl, Maya. They look like best friends.

I hear Maya refer to the brown-haired goddess as Riley. God. I bet they don't even know how perfect they are.

When I get home, all I can think about as I unpack is the angels on the train. Zay came up earlier and he walks into my room. He doesn't understand that I had an encounter with the divine this afternoon. He doesn't understand that I will be pining after girls I met once for years on end. I won't be able to focus in school because I will be wanting to be with these girls.

I walk to double history, my first two periods, with my head in the clouds. As I near the history room, I hear a teacher saying that bad things happen when you don't know who you are. When I open the door, the man asks me who I am. I tell him but I can't focus because the subway fairies are in my class. So is Zay. And a guy who is looking at _my _girls as though he wants to pretend he likes them.

Riley -God, even her name is perfect- turns toward me and sighs. Apparently the teacher catches this and comes in between us. I guess he's her dad. At lunch, I get both Riley and Maya's phone numbers. Riley's dad drags me away right then but I at least talk to Farkle, a guy who was once in my position. He's gay but he isn't out yet because his parents are homophobic. I guess we have to devise a plan.

The next day, neither Maya nor Riley is at school. I get a text from Riley saying that she's helping Maya. I don't know what she means, but apparently Farkle does. He narrows his eyes and runs off. I follow, my parents' words in my head. _You're stupid, you're a waste of space, no one cares about you_. By the time I get to Riley's house, I have another text. It states simply, come in. And I do.

I'm not prepared to see what I do. Maya, lying on Riley's bed, crying. Maya, the girl who seemed so self-confident, so strong. Maya, the girl who is currently bleeding, whipped and bruised and cut. She's seriously hurt but Riley and Farkle just whisper.

"It was him. I see you, Riley and I see him. You are made for each other. Farkle's made for George. I see it. And I'm always going to be the supportive best friend. At least until you forget me. I thought it would be better to end it now." Maya's voice is strong. "At least Katy saw me, even with all of the scars it left me." Oh, so it was her mother who did the majority of the damage. I see. And Riley tells her that she gave Maya a YouTube channel and uploaded ten of her singing videos.

"I published a book, Maya, I published a book." Riley smiles through the tears as we wait for Maya to recover. It's the worst beating she'd ever had. Most of them took a week to recover enough to go to school. The bad ones took two or three. This one takes a quarter year. By the time she goes to school, her YouTube channel has gone viral. Riley has two bestsellers out. I'm the little nobody who has a massive crush on two superstars.

But they don't forget me. I'm the friend from the small town for a year or so before I land a lead role in a hit TV show. Farkle makes breaking scientific discoveries. We're all the small-town superstars. We're famous and we stay together.

But fame is fleeting. Maya settles down and I get booted offscreen. Riley isn't a star anymore.

Farkle will always be the smart one when it comes to science, I will always love my girls, Riley will always a goofy girl, Maya will be our best friend despite what we've been through. Especially her.

Someday, I'll die. Until then, I'm always going to be a part of their lives. They have always been a part of mine.


End file.
